Nous sommes revenus!!! Today brought our summer to a screeching halt as school began for Brayden and Landon. I have a good bakers dozen worth of posts to catch up on from our summer of play, but for today I am talking Back-to-School!!
After thinking and praying much this summer (see this post)I made the decision to have Brayden go into 1st grade here and continue his studies in French. At the end of the day, it wasn't a very hard decision to make, but getting over nerves has been another issue. Brayden started openly talking about being nervous last week (1. That his french wasn't good enough & 2. That he wouldn't have any friends) and while I remained calm, cool, and collected on the outside (or so I would like to think), I was probably more nervous than Brayden. Having talked to some of my friends and neighbors who told me what to expect as far as the curriculum goes, it made me wonder if Brayden actually would be ok as the curriculum seems quite intense for 1st graders. Add to it the fact that the curriculum is in French, and I was shaking in my boots. I had such a nervous stomach this morning I thought I was going to throw up my breakfast. However, when we got to school, a huge blessing arrived in the form of a 6 year old non-French speaking, English speaking boy in Brayden's class name Lucas. He just moved here from the UK last week and I'm pretty sure he was more terrified than Brayden and I combined. As Ryan and I chatted with his mom, the boys became quick friends and one of Brayden's biggest fears (not having friends at school) was now gone. Not only that, but Brayden gained an extra measure of confidence knowing that he was no longer at the end of the imaginary french-speaking totem pole (thus severely diminishing his fear of his language not being good enough). I don't remember a time I have been so proud of him as I watched him march into his class all full of new confidence. It was a sheer blessing and a tender-mercy from the Lord. The rest of the day went well for Brayden and he was happy at the end of the day, full of new stories for me.
Landon also did really well today. He walked right into class, happy as could be and never looked back. I requested one of the strictest teachers for Landon this year knowing that Landon a. works best in a rigid environment and b. only someone with a nose for discipline could handle Landon, and it seems as though the teacher is living up to his reputation. On the way home from school Landon kept saying, "Charlotte can't go to school yet because she wouldn't be able to sit still and be quiet. I have to be quiet at school." He must have told me this same thing 10 times which makes me think maybe he was told to keep quiet a couple of times today??? Some of his friends from last year are in his class, and although he misses having Brayden at school with him, I think he likes feeling like an older kid at school and the responsibility of being on his own.
I'm not going to lie, after the anxiety I have been feeling about the boys starting another school year, I was on cloud nine this morning after drop off. I love when things go well, and I hate it when they don't, so today was a GOOD day. Hopefully we have more to come! Stay tuned for our summer re-cap!
